>>> everyone. the "news nation" is following new controversy at augusta national golf club where women are not allowed to become members as the masters golf tournament is underway there today. jay carney says president obama thinks women should be admitted to that club. now the issue is flaring up again because the ibm has a new ceo, a woman. she has been offered a spot as the club's first ever female member. but the club chairman is refusing to comment. here's a bit of the testy exchange he had between report where's asked about the issue. even his granddaughter was brought up.
>> my conversation with my grand daughters are also personal.
>> what would you suggest i tell my daughters?
>> i don't know your daughters.
>> i'm joined now by nationally syndicated talk show host contributor michael smerconish , and report he for salon.com. let me start with you. we do not know if she was offered a membership. they cloud themselves in secrecy. we do know the past ceos for ibm have been offered memberships. she is planning to host events at the golf club but we do not know if she will wear that green jacket .
>> for the past ten years, this has flared up several times. you have the ironic situation that corporate america where the leadership of women has stalled for the last 15 years is now more progressive and has more women represented than this golf club that has a very prominent place in our culture.
>> it's interesting. he thinks women as asked about should be admitted. obviously we wouldn't expect a difference answer. thought comes with this interesting timing that the conversation of the war on women , they just said the rnc chairman, that was like a caterpillar comparing it to something obscure. that there is no war on women . certainly, at least from some per perspectives, point to a climate that still exists in this country.
>> they don't want to regard it at augusta as if it is a ban. they say their bylaws have no such preclusion which then begs the question, have they just not found the right woman? if they haven't, what exactly are they looking for?
>> they're obviously not looking for a woman to be a member.
>> and they're able to do this because it is a private club . and the standard is whether it is a place of public accommodation. there have been any number of cases that have been litigated over the years where the question is do you put folks up for the night? do you bring in outsiders and allow them to use your eating facilities and so forth. that's how they're able to cloak themselves. i don't think it will be the law that will do them in. it hasn't done them in yeflt i think it will be the changes in society. i'm a little shocked that we're sitting here having this conversation in 2012 and it has still not been addressed.
>> they are within their legal right to do this. it is a private club so they're not any laws that would prohibit discrimination. as i pointed out, the white house commented on this so far. there has not been any major conservative to come out and slam the president or the white house for the response. nevertheless, in this climate that we are in, you are bound to get some blogger or someone from the right who will turn this as it is, into a hot button issue. i fear, i should say.
>> not all same sex accommodations are socializing or created equal. some are extremely powerful and have ceos and very, very powerful people and make deals out on the course. the fact that we're still excluding women and they accepted their first african-american member in 1990 , it just shows how the corridors of power are still very much controlled by the same people as they ever were.
>> back to this woman at the center of it again. this has been a long running issue as you both pointed out. now you have this very powerful ceo here. i am not, and i think no one is in a position to talk about what she should do but often time, you know, when you're the first at something, a great responsibility is placed on your shoulder here. what do you make at least of her not coming out at this point and still planning to host some events?
>> it is an interesting dynamic. she not only is a female. you would think that she would want to speak for herself on this. she also has a responsibility to ibm . they're one of the three major sponsors for this. so what is in the company's best interests , is what i'm asking. i'm not insinuating that their interests are different than her interests. what happened when we went through this almost a decade ago. there were no sponsors. in other words, there was such heat put on at augusta for a while that they decided, we'll put this on without any sponsorship whatsoever. i wonder if it will reach that crescendo again. especially in the midst of the 2012 election cycle. i keep thinking, here's the romney campaign facing a 12, 14% deficit among women . he'll have to say something. especially now that the president has. what will he say?
>> these days, all things are politics. especially to your point, michael. when the trayvon martin situation happened, the president was asked about it. he had to get out there. then the gop candidates at the time who were in the race, still all in the race, i should say, commented on it. these are the hot button issues that become fair game when you're in a general election with so much at stake.
>> absolutely. the president has made his position clear. in fact, the president's policies, but also his campaign in the last few weeks, have shown where he stands on women 's issues and have shown his support for his lack of support for gender segregated institutions that keep women out.
>> is it fair to clump this into women 's issues? as we've been about them in rerags to contraception, payee quality.
>> i think that it is. fair or not, it will happen. it definitely will happen. serving fair game in the cycle in which we live. i think to ask a public official how they regard this issue when you have the ceo of the major sponsor who is a female, sure, it's appropriate.
>> is it too personal when you turn to billy payne , for example, and they said what about your granddaughter?
>> he should think about his granddaughter. and he's been given an opportunity. here is a qualified woman who is a sponsor. a perfect opportunity for them to correct on their history of segregation.
>> thank you both teaming up together.
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